Kathleen A. Knafl, PhD, FAAN
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Elizabeth
N. Gray Distinguished Professor Currently accepting PhD students Visit the Family Management Measure (FaMM) Web page. |
Families respond in varying ways to childhood chronic illness, with many leading satisfying lives and others describing life as an ongoing struggle that takes its toll on both individual and family well-being. Nurses and other health care professionals can play a pivotal role in helping families adapt to a child's chronic condition. In order to support optimal adaptation, we must understand the varying ways families manage a child's chronic condition and the relationship between family condition management and child and family outcomes. Through a series of qualitative studies, my program of research has focused on describing different patterns of family response to childhood chronic conditions (family management styles). I have been especially interested in exploring the interplay between how family members define and how they manage family life in the context of a child's chronic condition. Understanding different patterns of family management is an essential first step in developing interventions that promote positive outcomes for families and their individual members. Most recently, in collaboration with colleagues at University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University, I have turned my attention to developing a valid and reliable measure of how families manage a child's chronic condition, the Family Management Measure (FaMM). By measuring critical aspects of family management of a child's chronic condition, FaMM will further our ability to generate knowledge of the family context of illness and foster the development of interventions that support optimal functioning and quality of life.
RESEARCH
Principal Investigator (2003-2005); Co-investigator (2006-2007), Assessing Family Management of Childhood Chronic Illness" (R01 NR08048), funded by National Institute for Nursing Research.
Co-investigator (2001-2007), “Parents Interpretation and Use of Genetic Information”, (R01 HG02036) funded by National Institute of Human Genome Research.
Co-investigator (2004-2007), “Measuring Self-Management of Type 1 Diabetes in Youth” (R01NR08579), funded by the National Institute for Nursing Research.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Knafl, K., & Santacroce, S. (2003). Chronic conditions and the family, In P. Jackson & J. Vessey (Eds.). Primary care of children with a chronic condition (4th Ed.), pp. 44-59. Philadelphia, Saunders.
Knafl, K., & Deatrick, J. (2003). Further refinement of the family management style framework. Journal of Family Nursing, 9, 232-256.
Sullivan-Bolyai, S., Knafl, K., Deatrick, J., & Grey, M. (2003). Family management behaviors and tricks of the trade: Mothers of young children with type 1 diabetes. Journal of Maternal Child Nursing, 28, 160-166.
Sullivan-Bolyai, S. Knafl, K., Deatrick, J., Grey, M. (2003). Maternal management behaviors of young children with type 1 diabetes. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 28, 160-166.
Sullivan,-Bolyai, S., Knafl, K,, Sadler, L., & Gilliss, C. (2004). Great expectations: The position description for parents as caregivers, part II. Pediatric Nursing, 30, 52-56.
Sullivan-Bolyai, S., Knafl, K., Tamborlane, W., & Grey, M. (2004). Parents' reflections on managing their children's diabetes with the insulin pump. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 36, 316-323.
Knafl, K. & Deatrick, J. (2005). Top 10 tips for successful qualitative grantsmanship. Research in Nursing and Health, 28, 441-443.
Knafl, K., & Deatrick, J. (2006). Family management style and the challenge of moving from conceptualization to measurement. Journal of the Association of Pediatric Oncology Nurses, 23, 12-18.
Swartz, M., & Knafl, K. (2006). Enhancing family support systems. In M. Craft-Rosenberg & M. Krajiek, Elements of Nursing Excellence in Care of Infants, Children, Youth and Families, pp. 77-95. New York: Springer.
Schilling, L., Knafl, K., & Grey, M. (2006). Changing patterns of self-management in youth with type 1 diabetes. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 21, 412- 424.
Knafl, K., Knafl, G., Gallo, A. & Angst, D. (In press). Parents' perceptions of functioning in families having a child with a genetic condition. Journal of Genetic Counseling.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Editorial Boards - Journal of Family Nursing; Nursing Outlook, Research in Nursing and Health
National Institutes of Health - Nursing Science Review Committee, Member, 1991-1995, Chair, 1994-1995; Center for Scientific Review, National Institutes of Health, ad hoc reviewer 1997-2000; study section member 2001-2006; chair study section 2004 - 2006.